Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Adams collection consists of 25 diaries kept by Charles Everett Adams, M.D., describing his life from age 11 to age 77. The diaries provide details about his family, education, employment, interests, and activities, including medical school, gymnastics, forestry, and the impact of the automobile, phonograph, and radio on family life in the 1920s.

The collection consists of 25 diaries (5500 pages) written by Charles Everett Adams between 1874 and 1940. They provide a highly descriptive account of his life from age 11 to age 77, with the exception of the missing diaries of his 13 trips to Europe. The diary entries record Adam's daily activities invariably starting with a report of the weather and including his exercise; what he read, bought, and sold; people encountered; and deaths in his home town. At times he compulsively kept track of the ambient temperatures, sometimes three times a day, and of the books he read and the number of pages for each.

Of particular interest is the impact of the automobile, phonograph and radio upon Adam's life. His first automobile trip was in 1907, which he found wearing and dizzying. In 1912 he bought his own car, and by 1920 he owned two cars and his wife Carrie learned how to drive. In 1923 a phonograph entered the Adams' household and became a regular part of their evening activities until it was replaced with a radio.

The nine notebooks contain school notes, quotations, gymnastics routines, and a register of guests at summer camp. The collection also contains a report of the 50th reunion of his Bowdoin class of 1884, which graduated 25 out of a freshman class of 44. The report contains biographies of the entire class of 1884.

This collection is made up of correspondence, military records, photographs, newsletters, scrapbooks, and other items pertaining to the military career of Charles H. Foster, who served in the United States Navy from 1898-1934.

The Charles H. Foster collection consists of correspondence, military records, photographs, newsletters, scrapbooks, and other items pertaining to the military career of Charles H. Foster, who served in the United States Navy from 1898-1934.

The collection's correspondence (144 items) primarily relates to Foster's naval service after 1902. Letters, memorandums, orders, and reports concern his ship assignments and work at the Naval Gun Factory (Washington Navy Yard) during World War I. One group of letters from the early 1920s relates to the acquisition of dependent's pay for Foster's mother. A series of World War II-era documents respect Foster's fitness for active duty. After World War II, he received letters from military acquaintances and veterans of the Spanish-American War.

Charles H. Foster's 1918-1919 diary concerns his travel on the Huron between the United States and France. Notes, newspaper clippings, and a telegram laid into the volume regard deaths, the military, and historical inquiries.

The papers include 4 of Charles H. Foster's scrapbooks, which contain materials related to the USTS Alliance's 1897-1898 training mission; naval ships, personnel, and theatrical and musical programs and performances; the Mexican Revolution and Mexican politics in the mid-1910s; and naval equipment, camps, and weapons tests.

Sixty-three photographs depict U.S. Navy sailors and vessels. One group of pictures show scenes from the Huron's voyage between France and the United States during World War I. The collection also features photographic postcards sent by Charles H. Foster and others from Mexico, the Philippines, Japan, Germany, and Borneo.

Financial records, legal documents, and service records primarily pertain to Charles H. Foster, with a focus on his time on the USS West Virginia in the 1920s and his mother's financial dependency. Documents, blueprints, photographs, and other items relate to devices patented by Charles H. Foster and others. Two service ribbons appear in the collection, mounted onto a wallet printed with "United States Battle Fleet, Sydney, 1925," which also contains a travel pass and membership card for Charles H. Foster.

The collection includes 429 typescripts about early American history, the Civil War, South Carolina Confederate soldiers, the Spanish-American War, aviation, and the US Navy. Rosters of American Navy ships and personnel include information on Union vessels during the Civil War; casualties from the 1898 USS Maine explosion; USTS Alliance naval apprentices in 1898; USS West Virginia officers in 1926; and the names and addresses of members in several naval veterans' associations.

A "Personal Log" by Royal Emerson Foster relates to his service on the SSAC Bedford in early 1919, with descriptions and illustrations of naval equipment, ship construction, signaling, personnel, and other subjects. The navy publication Rules to Prevent Collisions of Vessels also appears in the Log.

US Naval Ex. Apprentices Association materials include copies of Trade Winds, the association's newsletter, from 1939-1964. The newsletters are accompanied by a list of Alliance apprentices in 1898. A copy of Rocks and Shoals, a publication for former crewmen of the USS Memphis, is also present. Other printed works include military publications about equipment and procedures, a handbook on medicine, the Mariner's Pocketbook, A History of Guantanamo Bay, newspaper clippings, a souvenir book from the US Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island, a death announcement, and a map of Arlington National Cemetery.

Notes, reports, and a bound volume concern the history of the Foster, Yates, and Lindstrom families.

The Dyer Papers contain approximately 1,000 letters written by Bostonian Charles J. Dyer while living in Europe as an aspiring singer, along with photographs, documents and newspaper clippings.

The Dyer Papers contain approximately 1,000 letters written by Bostonian Charles J. Dyer while living in Europe as an aspiring singer, along with photographs, documents, newspaper clippings, and sheet music. Nearly every week, Dyer wrote to his parents in long, descriptive letters, and the collection appears to be a nearly complete record of his days as a music student. His letters create an intimate running commentary on expatriate life, music, and travel.

This collection is comprised of 6 letters that Private Charles Miller wrote to his mother while serving with the Special Services Unit 649, an ambulance unit in the Convois Automobiles, in France during World War I. Miller discussed aspects of military life both before and after the Armistice.

This collection is made up of 6 letters that Private Charles Miller wrote to his mother while serving with the Special Services Unit 649, an ambulance unit in the Convois Automobiles, in France during World War I. Miller, who signed his letters "Chas.," discussed aspects of military life both before and after the Armistice, such as his quarters and his desire to join the regular army. He reported his excitement after hearing that Special Services Unit 649 would be receiving a commendation for bravery and occasionally commented on the war. During his time in France, he observed bombing raids and shelling, but believed "one would have to be terribly unlucky to get hit" (March 30, [1918]). After the war, Miller described his attempts to learn languages and anticipated his return to the United States. Miller's letter of April 27, 1918, is incomplete.

This collection contains correspondence between Charles W. Chase, Jr. ("Pete") and his wife, Harriet P. Johnson, during their courtship and throughout the early years of their marriage. The couple's courtship letters highlight social aspects of everyday life in the Florida Keys just before the First World War, and a series of letters from Charles illuminates the experience of a naval officer stationed along the Atlantic coast during the war.

This collection contains correspondence between Charles W. Chase, Jr. ("Pete") and his wife, Harriet P. Johnson, during their courtship and throughout the early years of their marriage. The couple's courtship began around 1912, and they wrote each other frequently before their marriage in mid-October of the following year. Pete, who worked for his father at the Florida Keys Sponge & Fruit Company, often mentioned aspects of his work and frequently made arrangements to see Harriet, who lived in Key West and who shared details of her active social life in her own letters to Pete. As the wedding approached, the couple focused on plans for the day, and both anxiously anticipated the ceremony, with Pete counting down the days by early October. After the wedding, they wrote less frequently until April 1917, when Pete joined the United States Navy in anticipation of the nation's entry into World War I. An ensign, he was assigned to the U.S.S. Barney at the Charleston Navy Yard, and though his military service was voluntary, he greatly missed his wife and young child, who lived for a time in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Several letters from 1918 reflect his efforts to find a local apartment where they could join him. While at Charleston and, later, Norfolk, Virginia, Pete regularly wrote of daily naval life, which he found tiresome, and about his leisure activities, which included many trips to movies and, occasionally, to the theater. By 1919, Chase, a lieutenant stationed on the U.S.S. Anniston, focused his efforts on obtaining a transfer to inactive duty following the war; his father intervened on his behalf, but it is unclear whether their efforts were successful. Pete later wrote to Harriet while he worked for several real estate companies located in Miami Beach, Florida, and also received several letters from his young daughter Sarah between 1931 and 1939.

This collection consists of 53 correspondences from Santa Ana, California, Spiritualist Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser to her niece and grandniece. The papers are dated from February 4, 1907, to November 7, 1928. This collection also includes two photographs and a typed copy of "automatic writing" spirit communications with deceased "Sis" dating between June 28, 1928, and July 28, 1928.

This collection consists of 53 correspondences from Santa Ana, California, Spiritualist Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser to her niece and grandniece. The papers are dated from February 4, 1907, to November 7, 1928. This collection also includes two photographs and a typed copy of "automatic writing" communications with deceased "Sis" dating between June 28, 1928, and July 28, 1928.

The recipients of Dresser's correspondence were her niece Martha Wood and great-niece Ernestine Wood, daughter of Martha. Dresser frequently mentioned her close friends, Carrie-Bell Richards Rafferty (Mrs. Rafferty) and Fred Charles Rafferty (Mr. Rafferty, "Uncle Fred", "F. R."), Martha's husband Ernest Wood, and estranged family members Van and Gertrude. The letters contain detail about parties, theatre productions, and concerts attended by Dresser and Mrs. Rafferty, including a concert by organist Bruce Gordon Kingsley. Dresser often reported on the medical concerns of herself and her circle of close friends and family. Such concerns include "breakdowns", lumbago, miscarriage, neuritis, rheumatism, sciatic nerves, spinal issues, sprains, and ulcerated/abscessed teeth. Personal concerns of Dresser included the grippe and a sprained ankle and foot.

In her later letters, Dresser wrote about her experiences with "automatic writing" and meetings with other spiritualists, including writer and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, parapsychologist and founder of the Boston Society for Psychical Research Walter Franklin Prince, parapsychologist Carl A. Wickland, and medium Anna W. Wickland. Dresser also touched upon the success of her 1922 book Spirit World and Spirit Life: Automatic Writing.

This collection concludes with typed spirit communications dating between June 28 and July 28, 1928 and two photographs showcasing moments of Dresser's time as a musician and music educator.

The Children at play photograph album contains 55 photographs of young children playing outside from 1916 to 1928.

The Children at play photograph album contains 55 photographs of young children playing outside from 1916 to 1928. Images show children with parents and dogs, at the beach, and playing with toys including wagons, tricycles, and a pedal car.

The album is 15.5 x 9.75 cm with brown cloth covers.